The present invention relates to the decarboning of the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine using a liquid cleaner. More specifically, the present invention relates to the cleaning of the compression rings on the piston associated with the combustion chamber.
The typical internal combustion engine has at least one combustion chamber associated with a piston. On the piston are a pair of compression rings. The compression rings serve to prevent the escape of gases from the chamber around the sides of the piston during the compression stroke of the engine.
The only known method of effectively cleaning compression rings is to overhaul the engine. Overhauling involves dismantling the engine, cleaning any carbon coated parts, putting in new rings, and then reassembling. It is extremely costly and time consuming. Further, some modern engines (i.e., the Cadillac Northstar®) cannot be overhauled because of the way they are constructed. Because they cannot be overhauled, carbon buildup on the compression rings in these kinds of engines is a major concern. If the buildup on the rings becomes so great that compression within the combustion chamber unacceptable, the engine must be replaced. This has resulted in these modern engines earning the nickname “throw-away engines.”
Even though overhauling is the only effective prior art method for cleaning the compression rings, liquid cleaners have been used to clean combustion chambers in the past. One such method involves manually pouring an alcohol based cleaner into the combustion chamber after removing the spark plug and leaving the spark plug hole open.
This method has at least three disadvantages. First, alcohol based products tend to cause the carbon deposits to break off rather than dissolve. When carbon deposits break off between the piston rings, they become trapped. These trapped particles can cause engine problems.
Second, the open spark plug hole does not allow the user to activate the pistons during the cleaning to work the cleaner into and between the compression rings in an effective manner. If the user were to activate the pistons under this prior art method, the cleaner would splash out of the open spark plug hole. Splashed engine cleaners can eat away at external parts of the engine causing irreparable damage. Splash can be prevented by capping the spark plug hole after the cleaner has been poured in. However, capping the hole also precludes the mechanic from activating the pistons while cleaner is in the chamber. The cleaner can become trapped when the piston is in the upper range of its motion in the chamber because it cannot escape out the spark plug hole. The trapped fluid is not compressible (as is air), so the back pressure resists the movement of the piston so that the engine will not turn over. This is called “hydrolocking.” Hydrolocking an engine can cause tremendous damage to the engine's pistons and rods.
Third, the liquid cleaners are not able to effectively clean contaminants present on the upper components of the combustion chamber, such as the valves. This is because the level of liquid cleaner within the chamber must be low enough to avoid splashing out.